Rationalizing the irrational

These were some of my replies to a Facebook conversation (obviously where the greatest minds meet for discourse) this morning, I had to share my replies to the claims of finding God a self-made journey as well as the validity of the Holy Bible (lulz) and other amazingly self-deceiving rebuttals. Below are my replies to the stronger of the believers replying:

 I don't understand how you find truth in something (Islam is a bigger offender) in a religion that subjugates women and condones slavery. Ignore the Old Testament all you want, it's there and if you don't follow the Bible you're simply a diet-Christian looking to cut and paste the parts of the Bible you find unsettling. 

And what 'truth' and 'way' were the half million people who died in the storm in the Philippines missing out on? I see only a planet Earth with two major plagues : humans, and their concocted beliefs to rationalize their fear of death. 

Then you believers say that you'll "pray for the victims" as if that is of ANY benefit. It's just a lazy way of showing little compassion. I'm sorry but the only real Christians in this world do good without expectations for eternal reward and go get their fucking hands dirty instead of preaching to their own choirs of the even less intelligent who rely on more formulated opinions of this perpetuated 2000 year old myth.

 It's a tax exempt, woman hating and oppressing male dominated scam. The answer to the creation of the universe is in a book written by sheep herders from 2000 years ago when only 2 percent of the population could read or write? There are currently over 5,700 religions or gods but Yea, the one Americans believe is the truth. Bullshit.

 I won't accept any of this spiritual journey self redemption nonsense on behalf of my dear friend Hannah who died from stage IV soft cell sarcoma within 3 months of diagnosis, the millions of children who starve daily and the Joel Osteen evangelical scum avoiding taxes and stealing from the poor under the guise of prosperity through prayer. Human action, not telepathy is the only way to take care of one another.


When implied that I am not "enlightened" -


 I have quite easily the most formulated and well-thought responses so to imply that I am less enlightened than someone who is again, using a book written by sheep-herding peasants who knew nothing of the world outside their tiny village as the reason for existing is utterly, utterly absurd and I doubt you'd listen to a sheep-herder nowadays give you very much advice on anything beyond sheep-herding. We all grew up in a DOMINANTLY Catholic neighorhood, dissent of the church is really something some of you have read for the frst time from me, and I know that for a fact. You were born into it no different than I was. Indoctrination in itself is evil and abusive. By the time I was reading at a 10th grade level in 4th grade I already knew there was no coherency and an abundance of similarity to the previous civilizations gods and goddesses. 

So tell me this, south side oppressed Catholics..what makes your religion different from the Mythology of the Greeks and Romans early on? As one of my favorite quotes says, 

"The religion of one age is the literary entertainment of the next". To imply that Christianity, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, God are all one and that every other religion is wrong and will have to answer to your god is 100% completely a SUPREMACIST attitude.

The 12 year old atheist, or, how I became.

First, I'd like to apologize to absolutely no one for not writing in here for a while. I DO enjoy the medium of Facebook to express my views on atheism much better. For one, it allows me to address the theistic demographic more easily. Or as my younger brother so eloquently put it "marginalize my friends and family with a liberal atheist rant.", which I found to be a quite magical summary of my preferred tactic. Bravo, Mark.

I was raised on the south side of Chicago in what is considered the "East Side" neighborhood. To pinpoint an ethnic makeup in the late 80's would be difficult as the neighborhood had integrated to include Irish, Italian, Polish to Mexican, and Puerto Rican alongside the families that had originally settled in the area. The area was rife with Catholic churches. My brother, sister and I were raised geographically-conveniently Catholic. I was baptized at St. Francis DeSales, and confirmed at Annunciata. Now, before I proceed I want to point out that as a personality trait (or perhaps, flaw) I have inattentive-typed attention deficit disorder. Which quite obviously makes sitting through the unbearably lengthy and ritualistic ceremonies Catholics so seemingly adore that much more excruciating. It was in those pews that I began to understand that the sitting, standing, kneeling all felt relatively absurd when examined by even a 9 year old's curiosity. When I would actually pay attention long enough to the more critical and darker tones of some of the sermons such as immorality it shook deeply within me that this was yet another figure of authority with absolutely no terms of negotiation. All, or nothing. Believe, or burn. I went to CCD there, and at some point for whatever ever expense related reason, ended up at Annunciata about a mile and a half away around 6th grade.

It was in this CCD class that something happened for the first time - a usually annoying, inane question that children spew with shameless frivolity was absolute truth to me. It went something like this.

Student - "Teacher, what happens to babies who die before they are baptized?"(Perfectly logical line of questioning)

Teacher - LITERAL ANSWER - "They go to a place like purgatory, or limbo."



I cannot remember my specific line of inquiry following what turned out to be nearly the most insane thing I have ever heard a religious person say. Needless to say, my already deeply-seeded annoyance and lack of respect for absolute authority had shattered into absolute nothingness. The concept that not only such a God would have such systems in place, but that they had been taught for so long, to so many...and those beside me as well stood united in that belief.

I had already been quite fascinated by the mythology of Greece as a young child (thanks CPS for your limited library budget!), and always wondered to myself why their gods were no longer worshiped. After drawing the parallel between the cruelty of all of the considered gods in question it was just simple logical deduction, even at my age, that no such god could exist. The god we seem to all speak of, and know of seems to sound a LOT like the male authority figures who have shaped civilizations and destroyed them alike. There is no god, only us and our gods we need to hope for more than what we already have.

I prefer to enjoy exactly the here and now, hard as that may be sometimes. I'll get more into how heaven and hell are impractical and impossible in my next post, as well as the notion that dead souls would have to exist outside space and time and therefore technically not "waiting" for us anywhere.

Your quote of the post?

""We cannot say we know with certainty what will happen" to unbaptized babies, Father McPartlan said, "but we have good grounds to hope that God in his mercy and love looks after these children and brings them to salvation.""

http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=21542